Chief Justice, Govt. cannot solely
approve expenditure from coffers –
Greenidge
Government cannot approve expenditure and expend amounts from the Consolidated Fund on its own. As such A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU), Chief Financial Spokesperson, Carl Greenidge, is adamant that action will be taken against Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, for what he deems unlawful expenditure.
Chief Justice (Ag), Ian Chang
He was speaking of amounts expended by Government without approval. These included the US$8M utilized by the government last year, to fund the expansion project of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and for which there has been a repeated rejection in the House. Greenidge said, yesterday, that notwithstanding what Chief Justice (Ag) Ian Chang, has ruled, he nor the government by itself, cannot approve expenditure. According to Greenidge, the constitution is clear that it is the National Assembly that has to approve expenditure. He noted that the ruling by the Chief Justice will be challenged, as the opposition is not in agreement. “What the Chief Justice is saying is that Government can write any expenditure it wants and spend it…it (the expenditure) cannot be by default,” argued Greenidge. Greenidge said that he is hopeful that the Chief Justice, upon reflection realizes how ridiculous his ruling is, given the implications. Meanwhile, Greenidge commenting on this year’s Budget which is constitutionally due by the end of next month, said that APNU’s modus operandi remains the same. He said that as long as proper explanations and details for projects and other expenditure are not provided and for which the opposition are not in agreement, these will be voted down. Greenidge’s comments came on the heels of similar statements made by the Opposition Leader, Brigadier (rtd) David Granger, who said that the Chief Justice’s ruling is flawed and that the 2014 Estimates will be cut where necessary. Granger at a recent press engagement, told media operatives that “we do not feel the ruling is applicable to internal workings of the National Assembly, we have Standing Orders which have the force of law and we feel that we will continue to behave as we have behaved in the past.” He is of the view that “if a matter is brought before the National Assembly and we are asked whether we disagree or we agree, whether we approve or disapprove, the members of the National Assembly will vote in accordance with the interest of the country. If we disapprove we will say we disapprove.” According to Granger, “I would like to see which court would convert a disapproval by National Assembly into approval…I would like to see which court will convert 33 votes into 32 votes.”
APNU’s Carl Greenidge
Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman is the only person who can appeal the ruling by the Chief Justice, as Granger was struck out as a defendant. Trotman at the beginning of the last sitting of the National Assembly had indicated to the House that the ruling by the Chief Justice was contrary to one that he had made. Trotman said that while the appeal rests in his hands, he would be looking to consult with the leaders of the Government and Opposition sides of the House in order to make a decision. This, he said, is because the approval of the amended budget was essentially done by the two sides in the House.